GISD Fiesta Night

This celebration originally began more than 15 years ago and was established as a way to highlight Hispanic Heritage month in October. The celebration was initiated in Mrs. Nora Moreno’s bilingual classroom at Edison Elementary as a way to teach students about diversity and culture. It then transformed into a school event where Pre-K and first grade students performed traditional folkloric dances and songs for their families.

As the dual language program expanded to include additional grade levels, the event grew as well. First, it grew to an outdoor event held at the junior high stadium and then two years ago grew even more and was moved to the Farmers Market in May as a Cinco de Mayo celebration. The location change allowed not only for space for additional student performances, but also as an open invitation to the community to join the celebration. Fiesta Night is now a cultural event enjoyed by approximately 4000 people each year.

Through this event, students are able to celebrate their cultural diversity and traditions with their peers, which in turn creates a more empathetic community. Cultural diversity is preserved in the celebration of differences and is manifested by the diversity of language, art, music, and beliefs. As the melting pot of our community, GISD is where unity begins.

Our students at Edison and Chalmers are learning from each other. The teachers dedicate themselves to developing the whole child by creating opportunities for students to become productive and responsible students who will each contribute in their own way.

The Dual language program first began as a one-way model to support the education of native Spanish-speaking students. In a one-way dual language program, the group of students participating are all from the same native language in the program model. For GISD, this meant that the students were native Spanish speakers. As time passed, Pablo De Santiago, Edison Principal, introduced the two-way dual language program, which engages students from two native languages in the program model. For GISD, this meant expanding the program to include both native English and Spanish speaking students. In this model, all students are simultaneously learning in both English and Spanish. Both models of the dual language program support the participating students becoming bilingual, bi-cultural, and bi-literate.

The primary goal of GISD’s Two-Way Dual Language Enrichment Program is to allow all students to realize the full benefits of bilingualism, which include enhanced cognitive ability, increased academic achievement, heightened multicultural appreciation, and a competitive edge in an increasingly global society.